Shortages of ambulances and emergency medical service employees are straining healthcare in some pockets of the U.S.
In Durham, N.C., nine ambulances are working when there should be 19. In Eastern Maine, it's common for long-distance patient transfers to be denied. And in Dallas, more than 48 ambulances were swept away by an August flood.
The nationwide lack of EMS workers is "an absolute crisis," American Ambulance Association President Shawn Baird told CBS News in December.
"We're one car wreck, one shooting away from not having anybody to respond to be able to transport truly sick or injured people to the hospital," a paramedic, who was granted anonymity to protect their job, told North Carolina's ABC 11.
In September, AMR, the nation's biggest private ambulance provider, said it is shutting down nonemergency transports in Los Angeles because of reimbursement issues. A similar company in Maine, Petit Manan Ambulance Corps, is weighing whether to close its doors after continuing to lose profits, according to the Machias Valley News Observer.
In October, officials in 17 Texas cities wrote a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg asking for more ambulances amid a plethora of supply issues.
With wait times stretching and years passing as cities wait for more ambulances, frustrations concerning emergency services are further compounded by an EMS staffing shortage. Emergency medical technicians and paramedics are among the lowest-paid healthcare workers, earning a yearly average of $36,930, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In Maine, EMS is in "crisis," according to a 51-page report released by the state.
On Jan. 6, Steve Lail, CEO of Down East Community Hospital and Calais Regional Hospital, told the Machias Valley News Observer the ambulance services issue spreads to the whole system because a backup of patient transfers means more beds are filled and longer ER wait times.
"The physical ambulance is breaking down. It's [...] like an onion. There are so many layers to what has gone wrong," the North Carolina paramedic told ABC 11. "And now the citizens are paying the price and us employees are paying the price for something that could have been done six or seven or eight months ago. I don't know what the answer is now."